


By Your Side

by Chie (Chierafied)



Series: Fandom Events JL [16]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Battle, Blood and Injury, Canon Compliant, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Established Relationship, F/M, First War with Voldemort, Jilytober 2018, One Shot, Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter), Originally Posted on Tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-05
Updated: 2018-12-05
Packaged: 2019-09-12 05:35:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16867081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chierafied/pseuds/Chie
Summary: James’ heart stopped, then shattered.He fell to his knees, gathered his wife into his arms while his hands shook violently.Lily had come. Despite all his efforts to keep her safe, she had come – and taken a curse meant for him.





	By Your Side

**Author's Note:**

> Jilychallenge October 2018
> 
> **Prompt:** “it’s all my fault. if she dies it’ll be all my stupid fault oh my god” james sneaks out and leaves lily to help the order in an emergency. when lily realises this, she apparates to the battleground and in a panick, jumps in front of a curse the death eaters had aimed at james’ back

James stood in the doorway of their bedroom, staring at his sleeping wife. 

She was curled up in their bed, her hand curled by her cheek.  She looked so peaceful and still, with the slightest smile teasing at the corner of her lips.

James’ heart ached. The strip of parchment crumpled in his clenched fist weighed like a stone.

Normally, he would tell Lily about the urgent message. Normally, he would want her to come along, be glad to have her fighting by his side.

But normally, Lily wouldn’t be sleeping in the middle of the afternoon.

She had only started to tire out this past week.

So although guilt churned in James’ gut, although his conscience screamed at him and cursed him for a fool, he turned away and left Lily to her nap.

He sneaked out of the small house that had become their safe haven. Crossed the back garden, slipped through the gate. And as soon as he was out of bounds of the anti-Apparition charms Lily had cast with loving care, he rushed to the Order’s aid.

 

* * *

 

Lily sat up with a groan. She stifled her yawn and got up, ignoring the beckoning bed. Her head might still be full of wool but her stomach was painfully empty. 

She grabbed her wand from the bedside table and started to head to the kitchen.

She was half-way across the house when her sluggish brain realised something was wrong. The  _house_  felt wrong.

Lily stopped.

“James?”

Only silence met her query and fear gripped her, instantly chasing the sleepiness away.

Lily called out his name again and started searching through the rooms, finding them empty, one after another.

All she could find was the cat, who was out in the hall, amusing himself by batting something across the floor.

Trying to calm herself, Lily crouched down to pick the cat up. She pressed her cheek against his soft sleek fur. 

Her gaze caught on the item on the floor the cat had been toying with.

She picked it up as well, her breath catching in her throat in a sharp hiss soon as she realised what it must be.

She fumbled to unfurl the piece of parchment, her fingers unsteady from dread and impatience. Her eyes scanned the few ink-blotched lines, scrawled in haste.

The piece of parchment fell from her fingers. She dropped the cat onto the floor.

And then, Lily was running. To the back door, through the back garden, out of the gate – and praying that she wasn’t too late.

Her mind steeled and fixed on the destination, she turned on the spot and Apparated.

It had been impossible to tell how long ago the message had been delivered, but when Lily arrived, the battle was still raging.

Rain was pouring down and the afternoon’s gloom was only punctuated by flashes of spells.

It was chaos – curses hurled this way and that and bouncing off shield charms or deflected with counter-curses. 

If not for the masks the Death Eaters wore it would’ve been hard to tell a foe from a friend.

But there was only one person Lily cared about right now, as she stood to the side with her wand at ready and scanned the people entangled in the battle.

She recognised him the moment her gaze fell on him. She would have known that stance anywhere; the way James moved while he fought so familiar from the countless of battles where she had been fighting by his side.

Lily could guess the reasons why he had left her behind this time, knew he had only sought to protect her… but still, it stung that he had chosen to face this battle alone.

Movement flashed and caught her attention. She saw the Death Eater raise their wand and aim at James’ unguarded back.

In a fraction of a second, Lily could see the scene would play out.

Her brain went blank.

She forgot about the magic at her fingertips she could’ve used to counter the curse that was about to come.

She forgot that right now she had more than just herself to consider.

Lily simply reacted and lunged into the fray, praying she would get there in time to intercept the blow intended for her husband.

 

* * *

 

The world was a blur behind James’ rain-splattered glasses. The gash on his temple, still sluggishly tickling down blood, didn’t help his vision either.

The world had shrunk to him and his opponent; to the spells popping into his head and the wand he used with such an ease it might as well have been an extension of his arm.

He deflected the curse sent his way and with a battle-quickened reflex followed up with a nasty spell of his own.

The battle couldn’t last for much longer. Someone must have already sent for reinforcements. 

James could only hope Lily was still safely asleep in their bed.

The thought had scarcely left his mind when there was a strangled gasp right behind him. James stumbled as a weight collapsed against his back.

A back that suddenly felt warm, wet and sticky.

He had enough presence of mind to cast a quick Shield Charm before he turned around.

James’ heart stopped, then shattered.

He fell to his knees, gathered his wife into his arms while his hands shook violently.

Lily had come. Despite all his efforts to keep her safe, she had come – and taken a curse meant for him.

Hot tears blurred his vision. The gash was too big. Bleeding too profusely. She looked pale and listless and the bright blood was everywhere, staining the whole world crimson.

James struggled to undo his cloak so he could press it against the gaping wound.

Everything moved in slow motion. The battle that was still raging on had faded into the background. All the sounds were muted, except for the hard pounding of his broken heart, the screaming voice inside his head heaping on the guilt and laying out all the accusations.

My fault, James thought numbly. All my fault.

He reached for Lily’s wand and grabbed it from where it had fallen. He held Lily tighter to his chest and struggled to stand. 

Cradling Lily’s limp, bleeding form in his arms, he bowed his head pressed his tear-stained cheek against her hair.

“Hold on, love,” he murmured, his voice tight with desperation. “I need you to fight, yeah? Fight for me, Lily. Fight for the baby. I’ll fix this, I promise.”

Tears still sliding down James’ cheeks, falling to wet Lily’s matted hair, he turned on the spot and Disapparated.


End file.
